MLB hot stove: Hiroki Kuroda leaves Yankees to pitch in Japan

Pitcher Hiroki Kuroda will leave the Yankees to pitch in Japan in 2015. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)

Hiroki Kuroda is going home.

The 39-year-old starting pitcher will return to Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, according to reports from media there. The decision all but solidifies the Yankees' starting rotation heading into spring training.

The club had been waiting for Kuroda to say whether he would return for his eighth major-league season, and his fourth in pinstripes; retire; or return to Japan to pitch. He repeated declined to address his plans throughout 2014.

Kuroda finished his big-league career 79-79 with a 3.45 ERA, making him one of the best pitchers to leave NPB for America. He spent his first four years with the Doddgers (41-46, 3.45 ERA) before taking three separate one-year deals with the Yankees (38-33, 3.44 ERA), each time weighing whether he wanted to continue to pitch in the U.S.

The right-hander's career seemed to tail off at the end of 2013, but he rebounded under manager Joe Girardi's pitch and inning control in 2014, going 11-9 with a 3.71 ERA in 199 innings.

Kuroda’s decision likely didn’t surprise the Yankees. Their general manager, Brian Cashman, had repeatedly said he would be surprised if Kuroda didn’t pitch in 2015.

Without Kuroda, the Yankees' Opening Day starting rotation projects as follows: Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda, CC Sabathia, Eovaldi and Capuano. Ivan Nova will also join the rotation, but he's not expected to return from rehabbing post-Tommy John surgery until either late May or June.